Weird question, but it makes me so sad/angry everytime I go to the beach in Taiwan: so much garbage… And it’s not coming from the sea, I see so many people just leaving their spot without picking up their plastic bottles, or plastic bags blown away by the wind and no one cares.
I’m getting to a point of avoiding going to the beach, and when I go I just pick up the biggest amount of trash I can just to calm me down… But it looks like I’m the only one bothered by this. The rest of people seem not to see all this garbage.
So, how are you coping with that? Do many people just avoid going to the beach? Or just do an effort of blindness so they can enjoy their time even if the environment is so dirty?
There are actually separate and combined groups of foreigners and locals doing beach cleanups in Taiwan.
Just have to find them in FB groups or elsewhere.
You’re not alone in this grand endeavor. Keep it up
Twice now when I was part of a beach clean up event through geocaching, there happened to be at the same time another large company-sponsored group doing the cleanup as well. Both times were at Zhuwei 竹圍 beach in Taoyuan.
Shaming them is one way but that will require some kind of international attention. Similar to the traffic issues. One CNN report and people were scrambling to make changes. They still have a ways to go, but it’s a beginning.
Does picking up other peoples trash normally calm you?
As I said, a lot of trash does wash up on Taiwan’s beaches. From Matsu to the east coast. Fishing gear alone seems overwhelming. The good thing is many beaches have government protection now and are regularly cleaned. Apparently beach cleanup is part of the budget in some districts.
I’d just move to a better beach, but you might have to stay for work or family reasons. Time to learn more about the beach?
I’m within a ten minute walk from a very nice, very clean beach. It’s a bit remote, but I’m a bit retired. I loved matsu, Beigan in particular, but the beaches were all shit. The nice ones tourists visit were scraped and raked clean every Thursday, as weekends are big for the crowds and their cameras. So, when the beaches were quiet they were also quite filthy.
You could always just look at the water. It’s literally just the other way.
I also wanted to point this out. I’ve found tons of packaging from China and Japan that I’ve never seen sold in Taiwan. A pig with African Swine Fever (Flu?) washed on Kinmen’s shores a few years ago. I met a British guy who told me he’s found complete China sets (as in porcelain dishes) and even China cabinets washed up on the beaches during certain times of the year (depends on tides and stuff).
The problem is that once the beaches are filled with trash, people who go to them see no reason to pick up after themselves. It’s like with the scooters. No scooters parked on the sidewalk = less likely to have someone try to park their scooter there. One scooter recklessly parked in the middle of the sidewalk = dozens more parked within the hour.
That used to be very much the case (I remember beaches that were basically dumps) but things have changed immensely. Many beaches I visit are clean to very clean although not all of them.
You will see a lot of detritus and fishing gear wash up onto the coast, not specifically the beaches , for sure that’s a problem in this region of the world
But if you visit other countries like in south east Asia you will see many have much dirtier beaches now. For example beaches in Bali were often much dirtier than in Taiwan.
Any beach, honestly. I think Waiao is the worst one, especially in the northern part (close to the train station) and it’s clearly trash left by people ON the beach.
But Fulong is dirty too. Baishawan is probably the cleanest one, but far from good…
Yep, of course it’s true. Why would you run after your plastic bag when the rest of the beach is already full of garbage? It actually doesn’t change anything.
Lots of rubbish from vietnam and Philippines, just read the plastic bottles floating/washed up. Yeah it is a bummer. I heard recycling companies will dump truckloads into the sea, saves them cost of disposing of it properly.
Key point is ‘a lot’ but not ‘most’. Most trash is generated by locals who either dump their household trash into the ocean, or people leaving plastic bottles (sometimes full of piss, don’t ask) on the beaches .
The beach trash problem is not ubiquitous, it depends on the beach and how crazy busy it has been. As I said most of the beaches down south and in the east are just fine.
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